Old Quad

Old Quad is where Santa Clara began, and you can still feel it on a walk down Benton Street or Homestead Road. Mission Santa Clara de Asís was founded here in 1777, Santa Clara College (now Santa Clara University) opened on the mission site in 1851, and the town incorporated a year later. The street grid laid out in those early decades still shapes the neighborhood, which is a big part of why Old Quad feels so different from the postwar tracts that cover most of the city. Houses sit close to the sidewalk, front porches face the street, and neighbors actually see each other.

Historic Homes and What Comes With Them

For a lot of buyers the housing stock is the draw, and it’s also what makes buying or selling here more involved than a typical Santa Clara sale. You’ll find Italianates and Greek Revival homes from the 1870s and 1880s, Queen Anne cottages from the 1890s, and Craftsman bungalows, with modest mid-century homes and small multi-unit buildings mixed in between. Many of these properties are on the city’s historic resource inventory, so exterior changes can go through the Historical and Landmarks Commission, and some owners hold Mills Act preservation agreements that can lower property taxes considerably. If you’re buying, you want to know a home’s status before you get attached to a remodel plan. If you’re selling, it’s a detail worth sorting out early so buyers don’t get surprised halfway through escrow.

Everyday Life in the Neighborhood

Day to day, life here revolves around the university and Franklin Street. Santa Clara University brings the de Saisset Museum, the Mission gardens, games and lectures, and a steady energy to the area, along with the student rentals you’d expect near any campus. Franklin Square hosts a farmers market every Saturday morning, the Santa Clara Caltrain station is an easy walk or bike ride away, and El Camino Real, Westfield Valley Fair and Santana Row are all a few minutes by car. Like the rest of the city, Old Quad is served by Silicon Valley Power, Santa Clara’s city-owned utility, which is one of those perks residents tend to appreciate more every time they hear what their friends in other cities pay for electricity.

Downtown Santa Clara Is Coming Back

The next chapter for the neighborhood is downtown. Santa Clara demolished its original downtown during the urban renewal push of the 1960s, and residents spent years fighting to bring it back. In December 2023 the City Council unanimously adopted a Downtown Precise Plan covering about 25 acres bounded by Benton, Lafayette, Homestead and Madison, with a restored street grid, new parks and plazas, and more than 1,000 new homes along a pedestrian-oriented Franklin Street. Progress has been slower than many neighbors hoped, but whenever it does take shape, Old Quad sits right on its doorstep.

Thinking About Your Next Move in Old Quad

Many of the people I work with in Old Quad have owned their homes for thirty or forty years, and their questions are rarely just about price. They want to know whether a two-story Victorian still makes sense for the next decade, what to do with a historic home the kids don’t want to take on, and how things like Prop 19 or a Mills Act contract change the math on selling, staying or moving closer to family. If that sounds like where you are, I’m happy to walk through your options with you, whether you’re ready to make a move this year or just starting to think about it.